Distorting and Perverting "Mental Reservation"

Lawyers Grapple with Catholic Doctrine

"Mental reservation" has been used in modern times to "claim that it is morally justifiable to lie in order to protect the reputation of the institutional church," said Thomas P. Doyle, a Virginia priest who is an expert in canon law and has been widely consulted by lawyers for people who say they were victims of abuse.

It has been misused "to justify lying," Doyle said last week. The doctrine is "not accepted church teaching" but has been widely discussed by scholars and moral theologians, Doyle said.

Fr. Hardon's Pocket Catholic Dictionary defines "Mental Reservation" as:

Speech in which the common and obvious sense of one's words is limited to a particular meaning. The morality of this kind of speech depends on whether the listener can reasonably conclude from the circumstances that a mental reservation is being used.

Fr Hardon also explains "Mental Reservations" here in a discussion on the Eighth Commandment:

We may never tell a lie. But we are also obliged to keep secrets. How to resolve the dilemma? An approved way is by what is called mental reservation.

A legitimate mental reservation is to reserve in one’s mind the real meaning of what is said, but allow the listener a reasonable clue that such reservation is being made. If a prudent person can gather the intended meaning from the circumstances, then it is a broad mental reservation. Broad mental reservations are not only permissible but may be obligatory.

A strict mental reservation provides no reasonable clue to the real meaning of what is said. Actually strict mental reservations are lies. (emphasis added)